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Clashes in West Bank After Israel Kills 2 Palestinians

Clashes erupted Tuesday between dozens of Palestinians and Israeli forces in the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil also known as Hebron after Israeli troops killed two Palestinians, with the military saying they were responsible for the killing of three Israeli youths in June, which led to the Gaza war.

Hebron province spokesman Hossam Abdeen told Anadolu Agency that the Israeli army had besieged the Jamaa neighborhood and was barring local residents from entering the area.

The army also destroyed 15 shops in the neighborhood, Abdeen added.

Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli army said it had killed Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha – after besieging a building in central Hebron.

Israel says the two were members of Hamas and were behind an alleged kidnapping of three settlers who went missing from an Israeli settlement in the southern West Bank on June 12 and later turned up dead.

Hamas dismisses the claims, describing them as fabrications.

Cairo Talks

The Palestinian delegation to Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo decided to proceed with the negotiations on Tuesday, a senior Hamas leader said, despite the Israeli killing in the occupied West Bank.

“After consultations within the Palestinian delegation and brothers in Gaza and abroad it was decided to continue the Cairo meetings,” Mahmoud al-Zahar told Reuters by phone from the Egyptian capital after a member of the team said it was considering withdrawing from the talks.

Zahar condemned the killing earlier on Tuesday of two Palestinians. But he said Israel must not be given any pretext “to escape from commitments” of an Aug. 26 truce that called for talks within a month on long-term border arrangements for the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Since mid-June, Israeli forces have detained hundreds of West Bank Palestinians – including several Hamas lawmakers and former cabinet ministers – against the backdrop of the three settlers’ death.